Valve and valved conduit installation



Aug. 26, 1952 D. H. BUTLER 2,603,203

I VALVE AND VALVED CONDUIT INSTALLATION Filed Aug. 1, 1946 INVENTOR ALDHUTLER Patented Aug. 26, 1 952 2,608,203 VALVE AND vALvEn eoND irINSTALLATION', a 1

n h Donald fiButlergAllisoii Park, Pa; Application August 1 1946; SerialNo. 687,778

This invention relates to valves'and valvedconduit installations. It hastodo particularly with conduit and valve constructions for use instructures such asfloors,walls,.etc.

While the inventionhasother uses it'is especlallywell adapted for use inradiant heating installations. In such installations pipes aredisposed-within floors, walls and ceilings of structures, heating fluidbeing passed through the pipes, the {heat'from the fluidpassing byconduction through thepipesand through the floor, wall or ceiling to thesurface thereof, whence the heat is radiated into the interior of thestructure. It is common to embedpipes for radiant heating in concreteand other monolithicsiructures. It'is desired to provide valves atintervais' for controlling the flow offiuid in the pipes while avoidingdefacing of the surface of the floor, wall or ceilingby-a projectingvalve. It is also desirable to providemeans for venting the radiantheating system. a I

I have deviseda valve and a conduit installacomprising a valve elementand a rotary member for operating the valve element, the rotary memberbeing constructed and arranged to have'its outersurface approximatelyflush with the surface of the structure. Ifurther provide-a conduitinstallation comprising a structurehaving a conduit therein and anopening extending from the surface of -thestructure to the conduit,avalve in the conduit and a valve operating member having'its outersurface approximately flush with the surface of thestructure andlargelyclosing said open'ing. Desirably the opening is substan tiallycircular at the surface of the structureand the valve operating mernberis adapted for rotation and of substantially circular shape at itsoutersurface.

' Ifurther provide a valvecomprisinga'butterfly'yalve element and. astem for operatingtheZ va lve element, .the stem having a vent passagein for venting air from about the valve element.,' I still. furtherprovide a valve comprising a' valve element, a rotatable stem foroperating the valve element, the stem having avent passage therein forventingi'fluid from about the V l element... and -vnil-cans. for closingthe vent 3 Claims. (01. 137+-.171)

passage; My valve may comprise a casing together with 'a valve elementin, the casing, a stem for operating the valve element, a membersurroundinga portion of the stem and a vent passage extending partlywithin the stem and partly outside the stem and within said member.

Other details, objects and advantagesof the.

invention will become apparent as the following descriptionof a presentpreferred embodiment thereof proceeds. I

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a present preferred embodimentof the invention,

in which V Figure. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view through aconduit installation; 7 i I .Figure .2 is a vertical cross-sectionalview tion comprising a conduit or pipe 2 embedded in concrete3 as in aradiantly heated concretefioor:

An opening 4 is provided in the concrete and in that opening is disposeda valve designated-gen erally by reference numeral 5. The valvecomprises a cylindrical casing portion 6, preferably a length of pipe.adapted to be connected in conduit 2 by welds 1' so that the pipe 'Zandthe cylindrical portion 6 of thevalve casing-formin effect a continuousconduit.

The casing portion '6 has an opening 8 at its top, andwelded to thecasing portion 6 about the opening 8 by a weld 9 is a cylindrical neck10- whose upper portion is externally threaded-at l'l. Instead of thewelded-on neck, I may use a standardpipe T to provide the portion 6 andneck III as an integral structure. The internal diameter of the neck [0'is slightly greater than A sealing andthe diameter of the opening 8.guiding member 12 is positioned within thebottom of the. neck land so asto rest on the edge. defining; the opening 8. The member l2xxhas a;central opening 1 3 Disposed upon the member, l2 concentric with theopening I3Iis a sleeve l4 whose internal diameter is somewhat greaterthan the diameter of the opening IS. A positioning and guiding member [5'surmounts the neck [0 and thesleeve l4 and is maintained in position Iand pressed downwardly. n the neck and sleeve by a screw cap I6 screweddown uponth top of the neck. The member I5 and the cap [6 have centralopenings I1 and [8, respectively; which. are of approximately the samediameter as the opening I35 Positioned in the casing portion 6 is abutterfly valve element l9 which is adapted to be turned between anineffective position as shown in the drawings in which the valve elementlies generally in a plane containing the axis of the conduit and aneffective position in which the valve element lies generally in a planeat right angles to the axis of the conduit. There is provided a valvestem 29, the lower end of which is split providing opposed portions 2|which embrace the valve element. Rivets 22 passing through the portions2i and the valve element l9 maintain the same assembled. The split inthe lower end of the stem 20 extends above the valve element l 9, theupper limit of the split being indicated by the dotted line 23 in Figurel. The split extends up into the sleeve l4. The external diameter of thestem 20 is materially less than the internal diameter of the sleeve l4to provide a vent passage outside the stem and within the sleeve. Othervent passages are provided through the sleeve and stem. Vent passages 24are provided through :the sleeve i4 and the stem has a crosswise ventpassage 25 and an axial vent passage 25 communicating with the passage25 and terminating at the upper end of the stem. The vent passage 26 isadapted to be closed by a screw 21 which screws into th upper end of thestem. Underlying the screw head is a gasket 28 for sealing the ventpassage 26.

Connected with the upper end of the stem 20 is a member 29 in generallythe form of a hand wheel but whose upper surface 30 is substantiallyplanar and which is circular, having a relatively heavy rim portion 3|and spaced apart radial strengthening flanges 32 at its under surface.The upper face of the member 29 has four equally spaced depressions 33,which facilitate turning of the member 29. An index 34mayibe provided onthe member 29 to show the position of the valve relativelyv to themember 29. The upper surface of the member 29 is substantially flushwith the floor surface 34 and the member 29 largely closes the opening.4. It serves substantially as a portion of the floor, there being onlya narrow crack around the periphery of the mem.- ber 29. The undersurface of the member 29 is spaced only slightly above a ledge 35 sothat if the member 29 is subjected to loads heavy. enough to deform itthe loads will be transmitted to the concrete at the ledge 35.

To operate the valve element l9 it is merely necessary to turn themember 29 which as above indicated is facilitated by the depressions 33which may receive, for example, the rubber heel of a shoe or a bar orother pushing member.

The vent passage is normally closed by the screw 21. When the screw isremoved, venting of air from the structure occurs through the splitportion of the stem 20 which extends up into the sleeve i4, thencethrough the annular passage outside the stem 20 and within the sleevel4, thence through the transverse passage 25 in the stemand thencethrough the axial passage 26' therein. The passages 24 in the sleeve i4permit venting from the space outside the sleeve [4 and within the neckIll,

I provide a cylindrical enclosure 36 for the valve adapted to serve as ashipping package and also as a shell for forming the opening 4 in theconcrete 3 when the latter is poured. The enclosure may be of paper .ormetal and has a cover 31 on the bottom and a metal reinforcing flangering 2} around the upper edge. This ring pro.- vides a finished edgearound the circumference of the opening 4. The side wall of theenclosure may be perforated as at 39 and the cover 31 as at 40,outlining portions which may readily be pushed out to form holesadmitting conduit 2. The enclosure may originally be longer than shownand out to length after removing the ring 38, so that the opening 4 willhave the desired depth.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of theinvention it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is notlimited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scopeof the following c aims.-

I claim:

1. A valve comprising a butterfly valve element, a stem having a splitportion embracing the butterfly valve element and a member surrounding aportion of the stem, the split portion of the stem entering said member,said member being spaced from the stem to provide a vent passage betweensaid member and the. stem, said vent passage communicating with thesplltportion of the stem whereby to vent fluid from about the butterfly valveelement.

2. ,A valve comprising a butterfly valve elem n a em having a split porion cmbracinz t u erfl-y a ve element and a member sun r und a p rt onof t e s em. th split portion f the st m ent rin s id member. said m m eb in spa d om th stem o provide a vent pas a e between aid m mber an thest m. said en s a e communicat n with the spl 90.1- t on o t e s em, hes em ha in a p ssage ere hr ua ommiuii a ine with sa vent Passa and eadn in h d rectio away from he butte f a e e emen wh rebyto ent fluid r mou he butt rf y val e element,-

A ndu ns al tionccmp i lns e floor t uc u h n a co dui therei and aircular opening extending from the surface of thefloor r cture to hecondu t a a e housin and a rota y valve m er in said hous n a ircularvalve op a in mem e connected to said valve n ha ing s u er s fac a oimately hush th h urfa e 91 th loor struc ure and 1am- Y cl s n d o en nand a l d e formed in and supported by the floor structure beneathgnd dn to h pe er o s id m mber whereby a force applied t sa d member on i souter Surface will b t an mitted. to an carried by said ledge.

4-. nd i. in at compris n a floor t uc ure ng a nduit the ei and a siz ear p n g ext n ing r m the condui o a poi a jace to ut beneath therestate of the r structure nd thereaf er abruptly iiias e n d a r to a ma eas valve housing. a rotary al p ra ing mem er n a d h s n an co n ctd o aid val e and having. an outer portion extending above the edg rebya rorceapplied to a d membe on its. s a w b ra smitted o and arried bysaidledge. I

du c t b cbmn sinsalve a valve'in the body, a valve stem for operatingthe valve, a bonnet closing the body and providing a guide for the stem.a sealing (guiding m mber wit h valve "body an between. the valve d ebonn t fo m n w th the bonnet a hamber in t e b a ent pas a e b weenthat portion of the valve bodyin which th valve is positioned and thechamber, and a passazefor venting the chamber to atmosphere.

6. A-conduit installationeomprising aconduit. an opening in the conduit,a-neck onthe conduit in line with said opening, a cap on the neck, avalve stem extending axially within the neck and through the cap, avalve on the stem in the conduit, a sealing member within the neck andbetween the valve and the cap and forming with the cap a chamber in theneck, a passage between the conduit and the chamber for venting air fromthe conduit and a vent for removing air from the chamber to atmoshpere.

7. A conduit installation comprising a conduit, an opening in theconduit, a neck on the conduit in line with said opening, a valve in theneck and extending through said opening to control the flow of fluidthrough the conduit, said valve also forming an air chamber in the neck,and means for venting said chamber to atmosphere.

8. A container for a valve adapted to serve as .a form in theinstallation of a valve in a concrete slab, a valve in said containerhaving a valve-stem actuating disc, the upper end wall of said containerlying adjacent the lower face of the disc and extending to the bottom ofthe valve, said container comprising an integral cylinder coaxial withthe valve stem and having removable end portions, a metal reinforcingflange ring on the upper edge of the container, the flange ring having adiameter greater than the 6 body of the container so as to surround saiddisc and extend to the upper surface thereof and form a supporting ledgefor the disc when the slab is poured.

DONALD H. BUTLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

